Radiohead to Launch ‘Kid A Mnesia’ Immersive Installation at Coachella
An immersive audiovisual project tied to Radiohead’s early-2000s catalog will debut this week at Coachella, offering festivalgoers a large-scale installation built around the band’s Kid A and Amnesiac eras.
The experience, titled Kid A Mnesia Motion Picture House, is set to open on April 10 at the Empire Polo Fields in Indio, California. Designed as a standalone attraction within the festival grounds, the installation occupies a purpose-built structure described by organizers as a bunker-like space spanning approximately 17,000 square feet, with ceilings reaching nearly 40 feet.
Rather than a traditional concert or live performance, the project centers on a curated film accompanied by a reconstructed soundtrack drawn from Radiohead’s original multitrack recordings. The audio will be presented in six-point surround sound, emphasizing spatial immersion. Visual elements include artwork created by Thom Yorke and longtime collaborator Stanley Donwood during the production of Kid A (2000) and Amnesiac (2001), both of which marked a significant shift in the band’s sound and aesthetic.
The installation also functions as a gallery, displaying large-format works from that period. Visitors will move through a sequence of spaces that combine projected imagery, environmental design, and sound, with organizers suggesting a total visit time of approximately 75 minutes for the core experience, within a two-hour entry window.
In a statement accompanying the project, Yorke described the conceptual framework of the film as centered on a solitary figure navigating a decaying environment. The narrative, while abstract, reflects themes that have long been associated with the Kid A era, including technological anxiety, isolation, and cultural fragmentation. A preview of the visuals released ahead of the opening features stylized, minimalistic animation, including a horned figure moving through stark, shifting environments.
Although the installation is tied closely to Radiohead’s music and visual identity, members of the band are not expected to attend the Coachella presentation. The project instead stands as an extension of earlier multimedia efforts connected to Kid A Mnesia, a 2021 anniversary release that revisited the band’s work from that period. That earlier iteration included a digital exhibition developed during the COVID-19 pandemic, which was made available through gaming platforms. The Motion Picture House version represents a physical realization of those ideas, scaled for in-person audiences.
Following its debut in California, the installation is scheduled to travel to several major cities, including Brooklyn, Chicago, Mexico City, and San Francisco. Each location will host a multi-week residency, allowing visitors to experience the project outside of a festival setting. Tickets for these subsequent runs will be distributed through a registration-based system, with participants selected at random for purchase opportunities before a general on-sale begins.
The project arrives at a time when Radiohead’s future touring plans remain limited. In recent interviews, guitarist Ed O’Brien indicated that the band has been exploring a more sustainable approach to live performances, potentially involving a reduced number of shows spread across different regions each year. However, no tour dates have been scheduled for 2026, and there has been no formal announcement regarding new material.
The Kid A and Amnesiac albums, originally released in 2000 and 2001, are widely regarded as pivotal works in Radiohead’s career, marking a departure from conventional rock structures toward more experimental, electronic, and ambient influences.
With the Motion Picture House installation, Radiohead appears to be revisiting that era not through performance, but through an environment designed to replicate its atmosphere.
